Give Back, Gain More
Sharon Burns started volunteering through the West Central Arkansas Area Agency on Aging’s Senior Companion program about a year ago. That’s how she met her friend William, a longtime public servant who now has trouble getting out of the house on his own.
“I take him to bingo three times a week, and we go out to lunch three times a week,” Burns says. “I think it makes his day. I know how it feels to be lonely, and I don’t want someone else to feel like that.”
Burns’ volunteer experience is pretty typical for Senior Companions, says program Administrator Jenny Riley.
“I had a client tell me one time that she hadn’t gotten out of her pajamas in five days, not until the day she knew her volunteer was coming,” Riley says. “That human connection is so vital for all of us, especially as we age, and being able to provide that is so rewarding.”
Senior Companions is one of AmeriCorps Seniors’ (aka SeniorCorps) three volunteer programs for those 55 and older. For more than 50 years, SeniorCorps volunteers have been improving their communities through Senior Companion, Foster Grandparents and the Retired Senior Volunteer Program, with nearly 150,000 seniors volunteering nationwide today.
SeniorCorps Programs
Julia Amis is the director of El Dorado Connections, a volunteer support agency that administers SeniorCorps’ RSVP across Union, Ouachita and Columbia counties in south Arkansas.
“The RSVP program has varied volunteer assignments. They can be doing just about anything in their community with other nonprofits,” Amis says. “People volunteer where their passion is, with what they enjoy.”
RSVP is SeniorCorps’ broadest program, giving volunteers the opportunity to work with local organizations making a difference in one or more of six areas in their communities: disaster relief, economic opportunity, environmental stewardship, education, healthy futures and veterans and military members.
“We have some volunteers that are working with the Union County Literacy Council in El Dorado; they’re volunteering an hour or two or more of their time to help tutor adult students who are wanting to learn to read or broaden their comprehension. And we have several English-as-a-second-language students at the Literacy Council that they tutor,” Amis says.
Other RSVP volunteer opportunities through El Dorado Connections include annual tax preparation assistance, quilting blankets to donate to veterans or their families, visiting cancer patients during chemotherapy treatments and serving at local food pantries.
“We try to find something that they’re interested in and fulfilled by, where their time is appreciated and they’re doing something they enjoy,” Amis says.
The Senior Companions program is meant to help elderly adults stay in their homes longer, says Riley of the West Central Agency on Aging.
“We do things that a good friend would do,” she says. “We drive them to the doctor, grocery store, senior center; we play games together, read together, do crafts together. We go visit friends, bake food, offer medication reminders.”
Senior Companions don’t help with daily living activities like showering, but Riley says the program ensures homebound seniors always have a lifeline.
“We make sure they have a nutritious, hot meal, make sure they can run their errands in town and have a friend to rely on if they need it,” she says.
Those connections can make a life-or-death difference.
“Not long ago, a volunteer and client were talking on the phone at night, and the client fell in the bathroom while they were on the phone. The volunteer was able to call an ambulance, and she knew the address, the medications, the emergency contact,” Riley recalls.
Foster Grandparents is the most widespread SeniorCorps program in Arkansas. It provides seniors the opportunity to mentor a child in their community.
“They basically ‘adopt’ a child in school and act as a ‘foster’ grandparent to them,” Amis says, often sharing their life experiences and knowledge with troubled or academically delayed local students.
How it Helps
According to a 2019 study by the Corporation for National and Community Service, the federal agency that oversees national volunteer efforts, 84% of AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers had better health after two years of participating in the program; 78% reported feeling less depressed; and 71% reported having made new friends.
That’s definitely been the case for Burns, the volunteer for Senior Companions. She was still new to Arkansas when she started volunteering, having moved from Missouri after a long career as a health care provider. Burns heard about the program from a neighbor, and these days, she’s spending six days a week with her clients.
“I was sitting here doing nothing, and you can get depressed like that,” Burns says. “It improves my mood and increases my sense of happiness and joy with my life. I’ve made new friends. It’s better for my physical and mental health.”
AmeriCorps Seniors offers a modest stipend to Foster Grandparents and Senior Companions volunteers, along with gas money; Burns says she receives about $4 an hour and $0.50 per mile for her time.
“If you’re in it for the money, you’re out of luck, because you’re not going to get rich. If you’re on disability like me, or Social Security, it helps supplement that,” she says.
In addition to her friend William, with whom she spends eight hours a day, three times a week, Burns has a second client, a 94-year-old woman. Burns takes her grocery shopping once a week, then helps with some light housework, spending about four hours a week altogether.
Burns enjoys the work so much that she spends time on Saturdays visiting William outside of regular volunteer hours.
“I’ve been taking him to bingo now for over a year, and he never won. Well, just last week, he finally won and he started crying, laughing – he was just so happy,” Burns says. “I had never seen him laugh so hard and that brought me so much joy. Little things like that will just bring you joy when you’re doing this.”
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